Two men were arrested have been arrested after armed police intercepted a vehicle in a North East city centre.

Northumbria Police have confirmed the men were arrested after officers swooped in on a vehicle travelling in Sunderland city centre on Monday (April 17).

The incident happened near the St Mary’s Way car park yesterday afternoon.

Read more: St Oswald's Park, Newton Aycliffe: Toilets and baby facilities damaged

Police said they received a report of a possible sighting of an outstanding wanted suspect at about 2:30pm.

Nearby roads were reportedly closed by a number of marked and unmarked police vehicles which had surrounded the white van.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: "At about 2.30pm today (Monday) we received information about a possible sighting of an outstanding wanted suspect.

Read next:

For more quality journalism, subscribe to The Northern Echo here.

“Officers were deployed to the area and located a vehicle of interest that was travelling in Sunderland city centre.

“The car was subsequently pulled over in the St Mary’s Way area and two male occupants were subsequently placed under arrest. They have since been released on police bail with enquiries ongoing.”

Images posted online showed armed police surrounding the vehicle before making the arrests.